EP0144301B1

EP0144301B1 - Apparatus for treating cellulose pulp

Info

Publication number: EP0144301B1
Application number: EP84850369A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Folke Eriksson
Original assignee: FROTATOR AB
Current assignee: FROTATOR AB
Priority date: 1983-11-30
Filing date: 1984-11-28
Publication date: 1988-10-26
Also published as: US4732335A; SE8306616D0; EP0144301A1; SE8306616L; SE447738B; JPS60139889A; DE3474846D1

Description

Field of the invention

The invention relates to an apparatus for treating cellulose pulp having a consistency above the flowage limit, said apparatus being provided with two shafts rotating in the same axial plane and each carrying working means the cylinders of rotation of which are in mutually intermeshing engagement in a working zone and which are driven within a housing which closely conforms to the common cylinder-of-rotation space of the means carried by the shafts and is provided with a pulp inlet near the one end and a pulp outlet near the opposite end of the housing.

Description of the prior art

A present generally used apparatus of the above indicated type, a typical embodiment of which is disclosed in WO-Al-79/00345, comprises working means in the form of two intermeshing rotary screws coupled for synchronized rotation in mutual interaction, the material intended to be treated, for example pulp supplied at the inlet, being conveyed by the co-operation of the screws towards the outlet and being treated during passage through the space bounded by the thread portion of the screws and the surrounding housing towards the outlet. In this case the treatment is performed between opposed surfaces of the two co-operating screws.
An apparatus of the type as indicated above, but provided with working means in the form of disks mutually intermeshing in their cylinders of rotation rather than mutually intermeshing screws was proposed about 80 years ago in Swedish Patent No. 21.004. However, this apparatus has been explicitly designed for treating a pulp of low concentration enabling the pulp to be conveyed from the inlet to the outlet under the action of gravity. The use of such an apparatus for treating high-concentration pulp having a consistency above the flowage limit has never been proposed, obviously for the reason that the problem to perform an even and uniform transport of the pulp from the inlet through the working zone to the outlet has been considered unsurmountable.
An apparatus disclosed in FR-A-961 673 is adapted to treat high-consistency pulp between intermeshing sets of tools positioned perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the tool-bearing shafts. Working tools on each shaft co-operate with tools extending from the inner wall of a housing. The tools of the two shafts do not intermesh. The housing does not closely conform to the cylinder-of-rotation spaces of the tools on the shafts. While FR-A-961 673 mentions the possibility of continuous operation, no means are shown or described enabling pulp to be fed from an inlet through a working zone to an outlet of the apparatus.

Summary of the invention

The present invention is based on the surprising discovery that in an apparatus as defined above also pulp having a consistency above the flowage limit can be forced to pass in an even flow and without clogging through a working zone between working means carried by two shafts and mutually intermeshing in their cylinders of rotation, said working means being in the form of radially directed disks. By the apparatus construction according to the invention, the characteristic features of which appear from claim 1, a construction is obtained which in many respects is cheaper, more easily handled and more efficient than the double-screw apparatus while at the same time the working effect not only is equivalent to the working principle of the old type of apparatus but rather considerably superior due to the possibility to perform several types of adjustment of the depth of engagement and the width of the treating gap between co-operating working means permitted by the novel type of apparatus and not feasible in an apparatus in which the working is performed between mutually intermeshing screw threads. Thus, said parameters may be controlled easily and at short notice when, for example, a change in the physical properties of the pulp occurs during operation.
The new apparatus construction also eliminates several of the most difficult problems of the double-screw apparatus, in particular due to the fact that the novel apparatus with particular advantage is combined with a disposition of the pulp outlet in a lateral direction at an angle to the general direction of feed of the pulp through the apparatus.
Preferred features of the apparatus are defined in the dependent claims.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will be explained in detail in connection with several embodiments shown in the attached drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end view towards the outlet end of an apparatus according to the invention for treating cellulose pulp,
Fig. 2 is a side view of the same apparatus,
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus with the upper portion of the housing removed,
Fig. 4 is a side view of the apparatus with the housing shown in section and the shaft shown below in Fig. 3 together with its bearings, couplings and driving means removed,
Fig. 5 is a view substantially corresponding to Fig. 4 of an apparatus with a modified embodiment of the working disks,
Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same device with the side portions of the housing removed,
Fig. 7 is a plan view of a treating disk of the type forming part of the embodiment according to Figs. 5 and 6,
Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively a side view and a perspective view of three disks according to Fig. 7 provided on the same shaft,
Fig. 10 is a plan view of two mutually intermeshing working disks with modified groove bottom, and
Fig. 11 is a side view of mutually intermeshing disks of the type shown in Fig. 10.

Description of the preferred embodiment

Figs. 1 to 4 show an apparatus for treating cellulose pulp, the essential portions of which are two shafts 1, 2 rotatably supported in the same axial plane and surrounded by a housing 3 having a pulp inlet 4 at the upper side close to the end wall to the left in Fig. 3 and a pulp outlet 5 on the lower side close to the opposite end wall. A mounting bed 25 carries schematically shown upright bearing supports 26 for supporting the bearings 27 of at least one 2 of the shafts.
While in the simplest possible embodiment of the apparatus also the other shaft 1 might be supported in the same way by correspondingly supported bearings Figs. 1 to 4 show an advantageous modification in which the bearings 28 of the shaft 1 situated below in Fig. 3 are supported on a cradle 29 which permits an adjustment of the spacing between shafts 1 and 2 by parallel shift of shaft 1. The cradle 29 itself comprises two end walls 30 which are pivotally journalled at 31 in the bearing supports 26 supporting bearings 27 of the second shaft 2 at a position below the part of housing 3 in which shaft 1 operates. On each end wall 30 an arm 32 extends in an upward direction from the journal 31 to carry one of the bearings 28 of shaft 1. Approximately at right angles to the arm 32 carrying the bearing 28 and on the same level as the journal 31 the end wall 30 comprises a horizontal arm 33. The two arms 33 horizontally extending from journals 31 on either end wall 30 are mutually connected by a cross beam 35. The cradle formed by cross beam 35 and end walls 30 as well as the bearings 28 carried by end wall arms 32 form a stiff unit that may be swung about the common axial line of journals 31. A hydraulic or pneumatic adjusting device 36 is at its one end pivotally connected to the lower side of cross beam 35 by a pivotal bearing 37 and at the other end to the mounting bed 25 by a pivotal bearing 38. During extension and retraction respectively of the moving part of the pneumatic or hydraulic device 36 the unit comprising cradle 29, bearings 28 and shaft 1 carried by the bearings will be swung respectively towards and away from shaft 2 for adjustment of the working distance between the shafts.
Obviously, it is important to prevent excessive swinging movements of shaft 1 to avoid contact between the working means carried by shaft 1 with respectively corresponding means on shaft 2 or the housing. For this reason the end wall 30 at the right-hand end of the housing as seen in Fig. 3 is extended in a downward direction from the journal 31 by an arm 44 the free end of which is positioned between adjustable abutments 45, limiting the amplitude of the swinging movement of the cradle.
As the amplitude of swinging movement is rather small it is sufficient that the passage openings for shaft 1 in the end walls of housing 3 are widened to a corresponding extent and sealed by gaskets (not shown) which are resilient or adapted to be shifted in the swinging direction of the shaft.
Shafts 1 and 2 are coupled for synchronous operation with the aid of gears 40 enclosed in a gearbox 41. Shaft 2 is extended beyond the gearbox 41 for connection to a common driving motor (not shown). While shaft 2 in the normal way is subdivided by a simple universal joint 42, two such universal joints 43 are provided on that part of shaft 1 which extends between bearing 28 and gearbox 41. The obvious purpose of this construction is to absorb any lateral shift of the part of shaft 1 between the bearings 28 during swinging movement of the cradle without exposing the bearings in gearbox 41 to undue stresses.
Within housing 3 shafts 1 and 2 carry working means 8, feeding means 9 and counter-pressure means 10.
The working means comprise a number of radially directed disks 8 in mutually co-operating positions between a pulp inlet 4 on the upper side of the housing and a downwardly directed pulp outlet 5 for compressive and kneading working of the pulp within a working zone between opposed disk surfaces 11, 12 on disks 8 mutually intermeshing in their cylinders of rotation and carried by one of the shafts 1, 2 each.
In the embodiment shown the means for feeding the pulp from the inlet through the working zone to the pulp outlet comprise feeding screw threads 9 mutually intermeshing in their cylinders of rotation and supported on sections 1a a and 2a of shafts 1, 2 situated upstream disks 8 in the direction of pulp feed. To facilitate the feeding of the pulp through the working zone pulp-engaging means may be provided extending into the interspace between adjacent disks on one shaft in a position to impart to the pulp a tendency to move from one treating zone to the next successive one in the direction towards the outlet (compare EP-A-146515).
In the embodiment of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 4 the pulp outlet extends laterally in relation to the common axial plane of shafts 1 and 2 adjacent the last disks 8 in the feeding direction of the pulp on both shafts 1, 2. Obviously the outlet might also be provided in a different way, for example, in the form of an adjustable gap between the housing 3 and both shafts 1 and 2 and in concentric position in relation to the shafts.
In the embodiment shown the outlet is a tube downwardly projecting centrally between shafts 1 and 2 and, for example, having rectangular cross-section and preferably outwardly increasing cross-sectional area. The outlet is closed by a flap 50 which is pivotally journalled in the tube wall and extends in an obliquely downward direction to offer a resistance against the discharge which is adjustable by hydraulic or pneumatic means 51.
In order to prevent treated cellulose pulp from clogging against the end wall of housing 3 adjacent the outlet 5 shafts 1, 2 beyond the last working piece 8 carry reversely directed counter-pressure screw threads 10 mutually intermeshing in their cylinders of rotation. In place of such counter-pressure screw threads carried by the shafts other diverting means in firm connection with the housing or supported by the shafts might be used.
The housing 3 conforms closely to the common cylinder-of-rotation space of the means carried by the shafts such as the feeding screw threads 9, the working disks 8 and the counter-pressure screw threads 10 and leaves only so much free space around the working means, in particular disks 8, as is required in respect to the adjustability of the one shaft or both shafts in a lateral direction in relation to the axial lines for changing the mutual depth of intermesh of the disks.
Suitably the thickness of disks 8 decreases towards the periphery. The peripheral edge of the disks might be acute but suitably each disk 8 has a peripheral edge 15 of some extension in the axial direction and spaced from an opposed bottom surface 16 between two disks 8 at a distance suitably for the treatment of the pulp. Experience has shown that such a compressive treatment between the circumferential edge 15 on one disk on the one shaft and the bottom 16 between two opposed disks on the other shaft yields a particularly efficient treatment of the pulp enclosed in the interspace.
Suitably the cross-section of disks 8 is symmetrical. However, it is sufficient that disks 8- each provided on one of shafts 1, 2 have identical bevel angle on mutually opposed surfaces, which bevel angle may be different on the two sides of the same disk. The main point is that opposed disk surfaces on disks belonging to different shafts enclose a working zone having substantially uniform thickness.
In the embodiment according to Figs. 1 to 4 shaft 1 is adjustable by parallel shift in relation to shaft 2 with the aid of cradle 29 whereas bearings 27 for shaft 2 are stationary on the mounting bed 25. However, it is possible to provide for mutual parallel shift of both shafts 1 and 2 for adjustment of the depth of engagement between the disks on both shafts. A fully serviceable apparatus may also be obtained without providing for parallel shift of one of the shafts in relation to the other. Certain adjustment of the depth of engagement between the working means can also be obtained by providing one of the shafts angularly adjustable in relation to the other shaft in the common axial plane of the shafts. This may also be brought about by car- danically connecting the one shaft to its driving means while the opposite end of the shaft on the other side of the housing is supported for lateral shifting movement.
The embodiment of the apparatus according to Figs. 5 to 11 is distinguished from the previously described embodiment in the first place by a modified shape of the peripheral edges of the disks. As for the rest, also this embodiment of the apparatus may be provided with the previously described arrangements for parallel shift of at least one of the shafts in relation to the other or of the angular adjustability of the one shaft for varying the depth of interaction between co-operating working surfaces. However, these details are not shown in connection with the embodiment according to Figs. 5 to 11.
In the embodiment according to Figs. 5 to 11 the peripheral edge of at least some of the disks 8 on each shaft is provided with indentations 20 for forming cogs, teeth or arcuate recesses in which separate portions of the treated material are exposed to local, radial compression against the opposed groove bottom 21.
As previously described such a radial compression also occurs between flat peripheral disk edges and the opposed groove bottom but the amount of pulp treated at each such interaction between a peripheral section on a disk and the opposed groove bottom and thereby the working effect are considerably increased by providing such indentations 20.
The working effect obtained by the indentations 20 may be additionally increased by adapting the profile of the groove bottom 21 to the profile of the periphery of an opposed disk 8 provided with indentations 20, such adaptation, for example, being obtained by the provision of beads 23 positioned opposite to the indentations 20 (Figs. 10, 11).
A modification of the way of operation of great importance for varying the operational conditions may be obtained by providing the shafts with mutually independent driving means or so coupling the shafts for common operation that they may be driven at different speeds. Obviously, this requires that the feeding screw threads as well as any counter-pressure screw threads have such a pitch or such a mutual spacing that they do not touch each other inde- pedently of the relative rotary positions of the two shafts. While the shafts in the described embodiments are driven in mutual opposite directions, it is obviously also possible to let the shafts rotate in the same direction. While the working in the first case is predominantly kneading, it is rather of a rubbing character in the other case.
The construction of the apparatus according to the invention as described permits also an adjustment of at least one of the shafts 1, 2 in the longitudinal direction for adjustment of the spacing between mutually opposed disk surfaces.
All the above-mentioned adjustments between shafts by parallel shift, angular adjustment and longitudinal shifting may be used separately or in combination to obtain the initially mentioned advantages of the apparatus according to the present invention.
For repair and maintenance purposes the housing 3 is composed of easily detachable parts. Figs. 1 to 4 show a horizontal subdivision on the level of the common axial plane of shafts 1, 2, while the housing shown in Figs. 5 and 6 has a central portion 3a in firm connection with the mounting bed and provided with inlet 4 and outlet 5 as well as removable side portions not shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Claims

1. Apparatus for treating cellulose pulp having a consistency above the flowage limit, said apparatus being provided with two shafts (1, 2) rotating in the same axial plane and each carrying working means (8) the cylinders of rotation of which are in mutually intermeshing engagement in a working zone and which are driven within a housing (3) which closely conforms to the common cylinder-of-rotation space of the means carried by the shafts and is provided with a pulp inlet (4) near the one end and a pulp outlet (5) near the opposite end of the housing in the axial direction of the shafts, characterized in that the working means on the shafts (1, 2) are constituted of a number of mutually intermeshing disks (8) positioned perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the respective shaft between the pulp inlet (4) and the pulp outlet (5) for compressive and kneading working of the pulp in the treating zone between the opposed surfaces (11, 12) of mutually intermeshing disks (8), and that a section (1a, 2a) of each shaft upstream of the disks (8) in relation to the feeding direction of the pulp adjacent the pulp inlet (4) carries feeding screw threads (9).

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the pulp outlet (5) extends laterally in relation to the common axial plane of the shafts (1, 2) adjacent the last disks (8) in the direction of pulp feed on both shafts (1, 2).

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that beyond said last disks the shafts or the housing carry means diverting the pulp towards the outlet (5).

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the pulp-diverting means are counter-pressure screw threads (10) acting in the opposite direction in relation to the feeding screw threads (9) and preferably in mutual intermesh with their respective cylinders of rotation.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that each disk (8) has a peripheral edge (15) extending in the axial direction and located at a spacing from the opposed bottom surface (16) between two disks suitable for the working of the pulp.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the disks (8) have symmetrical cross-section.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the thickness of the disks (8) diminishes towards the periphery.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that disks (8) on either shaft (1, 2) are bevelled at an identical bevel angle on mutually opposed surfaces.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that on at least one of the disks the peripheral edge is provided with indentations (20) forming cogs, teeth or arcuate recesses in which separate portions of the treated material are exposed to local, radial compression against the opposed groove bottom (21).

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the groove bottom (22) opposed to the periphery of a disk (8) provided with indentations (20) has a profile (23) adapted to the periphery of said disk.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the shafts (1, 2) is adjustable in the longitudinal direction for adjustment of the spacing between mutually opposed disk surfaces.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the shafts (1, 2) is angularly adjustable or shiftable in parallel in relation to the other shaft for adjustment of the depth of intermesh of the disks (8) on one of the shafts (1) in the interspaces between disks (8) on the other shaft (2).

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that the bearings (28) of one of the shafts (1) are supported by a cradle (29) which is journalled for controlled swinging movement on a mounting bed (25, 26) of the housing (3).

14. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shafts (1, 2) have mutually independent driving means.

15. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the shafts (1, 2) are mutually coupled for synchronous operation by common driving means.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that the shafts (1, 2) are mutually coupled for operation at different speeds.

17. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that pulp-engaging means are provided extending into the interspace between adjacent disks (8) on one shaft in a position to impart to the pulp a tendency to move from one treating zone to the next successive one in the direction towards the outlet (5).